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I'm thinking of tiling over my counter-top with ceramic tiles and also tiling over my linoleum floor (with anything). Answered

Can I tile over these things without ripping them out? Any tips?
The counter is wood veneer and the floor is linoleum tiles that have worn through to what looks like concrete in some spots. I'm pretty handy and I think I can do these things myself with the right tools, but I don't want to make any serious faux pas. I don't think I'm capable of or want to rip up the flooring an counter either. Thanks for your help!

Discussions

From all the home renovation TV shows and books I've read, they all say to rip the old stuff out.
One thing you can do with the linoleum floor, however, is to lay a new subfloor on top of it. Use 1/2" or 3/4" tongue-in-groove plywood and screw it down, then apply a water-resistant layer, then tile on top of that.

Not really worth the effort though, easier to rip the lino up and tile onto the solid concrete subfloor rather than adding loads of height and bounce. Tiling is best done onto a solid base, concrete subfloors are ideal. One thing I would say is if you're tiling onto concrete I would assume you are on the ground floor (1st floor to Americans) so underfloor heating is a must IMO.
As for the counter, I would advise against tiling it, awful for cleaning and soon wears and looks grubby and the grout stains and dulls easily. I'd stick to wood, or granite, or equivalents. Basically anything but tiles!

I suppose it depends on how securely the linoleum is still adhered to the floor. If it's easy to chip off then it must be removed. But if it's still in good shape and would take some of the subfloor with it if you tried to pry it up, installing another subfloor on top of it might be the answer. Using a lot of screws and the tongue-in-groove plywood will help with squeaks.
And yeah, tiling the countertops is probably not the best idea. For a backsplash sure, but not the working surface.